Find Toys & Games for the Whole Family

Picking out kids’ toys and games can sometimes be a challenge. If you’re having trouble buying a video game console[1] or choosing computer games that will run on your PC, you might prefer to take the fun offline with classic toys and games. Sears has traditional toys and games, and other products for kids[2] that will make for a memorable family game night.

Nothing brings the family together like gathering around a goodboard game, and Sears carries board games for kids of all ages. Not only are these games fun, they’re educational too. Board games like Monopoly teach money handling and arithmetic, while classic games like chess and checkers are great for sharpening predictive thinking and basic logic. Sitting down and tackling a challenging board game with your kids is a great way to give them a head start on critical and creative thinking skills.[3]

Kids can also learn a lot from solo play. Creating storylines and scenarios with their favorite action figures really broadens the imagination, and not to mention, it’s just plain fun. Whether your child loves to recreate wrestling matches with WWE action figures, or prefers to play head of the house with a pretty Barbie dollhouse, you’ll find the toys and games he or she will love at Sears.

A local tattoo shop is putting its own unique spin on a holiday charity concept.

It’s called Toys for Tats.

Platinum Tattoos off 410 and Evers says all you have to do is drop off an unwrapped toy worth at least twenty dollars.

In exchange you’ll get a $ 60 tattoo for free.

If the tat costs more than $ 60, you’ll get $ 80 off your balance.

The shop also says you can still make a donation even if you don’t want to get inked up.

“At the end of the day, a toy is a toy, and a toy puts a smile on a kid’s face,” said owner Noah Yuchnitz. “That’s all that matters, is we just want the kids to smile and be happy and put the Christmas spirit in the air.”

Toys for Tats runs through Christmas Eve at any of Platinum Tattoo’s three locations.Tattoo Shop Accepting Toys for Tats

“I don’t like to fight the crowds for something that may or may not be the same price. I think it’s your comfort level. I feel like Black Friday is more about the experience,” she said.

When it comes to toy shopping, Netzel admits finding the deals is about doing your research and being mindful of sales and pricing. To help steer you in the right direction, here are Netzel’s top tips:

Shop Cyber Monday

Shop Cyber Monday to score deals on toys. This year it falls on Nov. 30.

Throughout the day, Amazon will release deals at specific times of the day but prices aren’t announced until the item goes live. Netzel said in this case it pays off to be an Amazon Prime member. Why? Members get a 30-minute head start shopping those deals. That head start is key. “A lot of super hot items sell out in five minutes,” she said.

Track pricing

If you are not sure if an item listed on Amazon is a good price, head to the website, camelcamelcamel.com. (Yes, that’s three camels.) “All you do is copy and paste the URL of the Amazon link and it will show you historical pricing. So it will show you if it is a good price or not,” Netzel said.

It’s especially handy for tracking prices on items such as Lego sets which rarely go on sale, she said.

Take advantage of price matching

Take advantage of price matching. Many retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart will loosen their policies closer to the holidays, she said.

Right now, Toys R Us has a price match guarantee stating price matches will be given at the time of purchase or within 7 days of purchase date with a valid receipt. Be sure to carefully read the rules, and save your receipts.

Also, always bring your phone with you when you’re out shopping so you can look up competitors’ pricing on items, she said.

Have you ever looked at an adorable-yet-incompetent drawing made by a child and thought, “Now wait a minute—that would make an amazing plush toy?” No, neither have I, which is why neither of us has a job at Ikea coming up with awesome new product designs.

Here you see the results of a competition to design Ikea’s Soft Toys For Education 2015[1], a program the Swedish behemoth has been running with UNICEF since 2003. For each soft toy sold, one dollar (or one Euro) is donated to UNICEF’s Right to Play projects in Uganda and Angola, with €67 million ($ 74 million) donated so far.

This year’s toys[2] are made in accordance with the designs submitted by kids. The 10 winners, from kids aged 4 to 10 years old, are now on sale for $ 5 each, with a set of all 10, in miniature, for just a dollar. The kids’ drawings have been rendered pretty faithfully in plush polyester, with even the wonky lines and uneven eyes left intact.

The Sagoskatt range, as it’s called, appears right alongside the rest of Ikea’s plush toys and is frankly the best thing in there. Who would want a lame old Livlig husky, or Snuttig polar bear when they could have a pink chicken[3] (yes, apparently it’s a chicken[4]) with a really long neck, or an unimpressed dinosaur[5], or a cat[6] that looks like a cross between Jabba the Hutt and Pepé Le Pew?

A dinosaur with a wry expression, a four-legged tiger, and a goofy pear-shaped cyclops. These are among the cast of characters of Sagoskatt[1], a new line of IKEA hand puppets and plush toys based on drawings of young children.

As part of its long-running charitable program[2], the Swedish furniture manufacturer asked kids who visited their stores around the world to design the ideal toy last year. From thousands of entries, ten selected designs were transformed into plush toys—and the resemblance is spot-on.

The Sagoskatt plush posse.(Ikea)Ikea (Ikea)

“We look at the sample and we look at the drawing to see if they’re matching,” explains IKEA product developer Bodil Fritjofsson in a behind-the-scenes video. Fritjofsson oversaw the production and worked with a factory in Indonesia.

She emphasizes: “If the eyes are different, or there’s an extra arm, it should be on the soft toy as well.”

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The toys aren’t just for fun. Until December 26, the IKEA Foundation is donating €1 to UNICEF and Save the Children for every soft toy sold.